


ceremony

by isthepartyover



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Fantasy High
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Confessions, M/M, Marriage, Marriage of Convenience, and i shall not be tamed, liberal interpretation of a spell, you can't stop me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22030780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isthepartyover/pseuds/isthepartyover
Summary: 1st-level evocation (ritual)Casting Time: 1 actionRange: TouchComponents: V, S, M (25 gp worth of powdered silver)Duration: Instantaneous (see below)You perform one of several religious ceremonies. When you cast the spell, choose one of the following ceremonies, the target of which must be within 10 feet of you throughout the casting.Marriage. You touch adult humanoids willing to be bonded together in marriage. For the next 24 hours, each target gains a +2 bonus to AC and saving throws while they are within 30 feet of each other. A creature can benefit from this ceremony just once.
Relationships: Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster
Comments: 6
Kudos: 192





	ceremony

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sajere1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sajere1/gifts).



The battle is wild and chaotic, zombie pirate and adventurer alike covering the deck of the Hangman III, and Fabian Aramais Seacaster is starting to get a little sick of it.

For one, the zombies  _ somehow _ have the accuracy of sharpshooters, and he's more wounded than he would like to be with so many of them remaining, and he knows that if Fig, Adaine, and Kristen weren't posted above, they would be in deep trouble.

As it is, they still might be, Fabian thinks, as something collides with his legs, and he looks down to see a very battered Riz, firing his Arcubus wildly.

Fabian curses, then uses the distraction of a well-timed Fireball to pull Riz to his feet.

"Thanks." Riz grunts, wiping away some blood that had dripped down into his eyes. "I  _ really _ am beginning to hate these guys."

" _ Beginning? _ " Fabian sputters, raising an eyebrow, and Riz laughs, reloading and firing out again.

"They're not as bad as some of the other stuff we've faced." Riz explains, and Fabian turns back to his own horde with a bitter chuckle.

“True.”

“I just-  _ fuck off! _ \- wish they’d get a little less precise with their hits!” Riz swears, the telltale eerie sound of his blade being unsheathed accompanying his words. “Or like...I dunno, we can’t really get better armor this far out, can we?”

The suggestion jogs a memory in Fabian’s mind, a hazy, crossed one from a while back, Kristen giggling as she read aloud a spell she’d found.

And it’s  _ crazy _ , and Riz would probably  _ kill _ him later, but…

The small, romantic part of him that he’s tried to ignore and bury races, and if not now, then never.

“I have an idea.” Fabian starts, heart pounding faster as he rolls under one guy and stabs another. “But you’ll have to be cool about it, okay, the Ball?”

“I’m always cool!” Riz argues, a slight pout on his lips, and Fabian laughs before searching for the one person he needs for his crazy plan in the rigging above.

“Kristen!” Fabian shouts upon spotting Kristen’s bright shirt, maneuvering so that he’s back to back with Riz, feeling the impact of his gun’s recoil shudder through him. “Kristen, marry us!”

“ _ WHAT?! _ ” Riz yelps, and Fabian watches Kristen’s face shift from confused, to understanding, to absolute delight.

“The spell, right?!” she hollers back, carefully swinging her way over.

Fabian nods, and continues swinging, Riz doing the same, yelling, “Are  _ either _ of you gonna tell me what this is about?!”

“I got a spell!” Kristen chirps from right above them, a sickening thud sounding as she kicks one of the zombie pirates off her ropes, “ _ Ew,  _ but oh man,  _ finally. _ Can I do the whole thing, or-”

“Kind of in dire straights, Kristen!” Fabian grunts, one of the zombies getting him with a lub in the ribs, the solid body behind him keeping him upright.

“Fine, later then.” she grumbles, and Fabian feels a hand in his hair as Kristen continues, now right in his ear, “But I gotta do the last part. It’s part of the spell-”

“ _ It is most definitely not- _ ” Riz argues, interrupted by Kristen talking over him.

“Fabian, do you take Riz to be your...uhh, magically-wedded husband?”

Heart thudding almost painfully in his chest as he stabs yet another zombified pirate, Fabian says, “I do.”

“And Riz, do you-”

“Do I really have to-”

“ _ Riz, _ trust me and say yes!” Fabian pleads, and he feels Riz still behind him at the sound of his name.

“Thanks, Fabian! Anyway, Riz do you take Fabian to be your magically-wedded husband?” Kristen chirps, sounding almost smug.

“I do.” Riz says, quietly, almost not loud enough to be heard over the battle, like it was a secret he didn’t want their enemies to hear.

Kristen laughs, hand retreating up and away. “Alright, then! By the power granted to me by Yes?, I now pronounce you-”

Fabian doesn’t hear the end of her sentence, caught up in the feeling of magic flowing through him, centering in his chest, next to his racing heart, almost like a tether, a link, another heartbeat along his own, just as fast, just as strong-

It feels like  _ Riz _ , crazily enough, like a wry grin flashed at him while they discuss strategy, like the excited rambling he does when Riz is explaining a case, like the pleasant feeling Fabian gets just watching him work, like the rush of air he gets doing some crazy stunt. 

The solidness of him behind Fabian vanishes, the other boy clearly having Misty Stepped away, but the feeling remains, making Fabian feel energized and stronger than before, and he lunges, a war cry and a smile on his face as he attacks.

***

The deck is an absolute  _ mess _ when the battle ends, guts and gore scattered across the Hangman's gorgeous enchanted wood, and Fabian find himself scowling at one particularly stubborn patch of it when the tether in his chest tugs, almost painfully.

He looks up from his mop and across the deck to find Riz staring back, only meeting Fabian's eyes for a moment before blushing a dark peacock blue and turning back to his own portion of the deck.

And there's that ache again, something melancholy and sorrowful, and Fabian drops his cleaning supplies and walks over to Riz, standing just a bit away as he waits to be noticed. 

It's an indication of how preoccupied Riz is, either in his thoughts or trying to seem busy, that when he does notice Fabian there, he jumps, sloshing water out of his bucket and making Fabian smile at the scowl he's given.

"Gah! What the hell're you doing?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

Riz's ears pull back to his skull, a clear indication he was uncomfortable, but he stays, twisting his mop in the bucket a bit before bringing it out with a heavy  _ splosh _ as it hits the deck, Riz looking away from Fabian and to what he was doing.

"Oh. Uh. Well. You don't have to. Tell me. To forget about it. Or that it doesn't-it didn't matter. I know. It was just an armor boost, like I asked for. So. Yeah. It's cool. I told Kristen not to make a big deal out of it already."

And that. Well.

Fabian had known Riz for years, had fought by his side and been through fights with dragon vice principals and demon nightmare kings, suffered through exams and heartbreak and laughed through every moment inbetween. Despite all his protests at the beginning, Riz was his best friend. His first mate. Someone he could rely on, who was selfless to a fault, someone who gave as good as he got. 

Someone Fabian had found himself falling in love with as the years raced by, as each new adventure unfolded.

Point being, Fabian could tell absolutely and without a doubt tell that Riz didn't mean a single bit of what he'd said.

Or rather, that what he'd told Fabian, while being true, wasn't what Riz really wanted. 

And it wasn’t what Fabian had wanted, either, the same part of him that had been delighted and pleased at the notion of the spell being performed on them squirms with displeasure at Riz’s reaction, and it’s almost  _ easy _ to know what he needs to do next to fix this.

“What if I did?” he asks, watching as Riz looks back up at him, brow furrowed as he studies Fabian, expression the same one he got when he’s trying to piece together the clues of a case, to link them all together so that they make sense.

He’s quiet, for a long moment, just staring and watching Fabian, before he says, “...Did...did what?”

“Meant it.”

Riz shakes his head at that, barking out an almost hissing, derisive sort of laugh at that. “Yeah, right. Look, I’m really not in the mood for jokes-”

“Riz.” Fabian interrupts, and just as he had before, Riz stills at the sound of his name as Fabian starts to babble. “Riz, what makes you think I didn’t mean it? What...what makes you think I wouldn’t marry you at the drop of a hat, at the merest  _ hint  _ you’d felt the same-”

“ _ I’d  _ felt the same?!” Riz interjects, outright dropping his mop with outrage, face nearly blue. “When you’re...you’re  _ you _ , popular, handsome, cunning-for all the gods’ sakes, Fabian, how could I  _ not _ have fallen for you?!”

It’s Fabian’s turn to stare, something light and delighted and giddy filling his chest and the tether Kristen had bound them with feeling more solid, more bright and powerful than it had before, and Fabian takes a step towards Riz as the other man does the same, both of them meeting in the middle, nearly chest to chest.

“You’re brilliant.” Fabian murmurs, placing one hand loosely on Riz’s waist, using the other to brush the hair out of his eyes. “And kind, and funny, and...so much  _ more _ , Riz, how could I not have fallen for  _ you _ ?”

Riz’s eyes seem almost watery at that, a self-deprecation that Fabian knew too well, and as he opens his mouth to argue, Fabian leans down to kiss those words away.

Riz melts into it, clawed fingers going to Fabian’s cheeks as if to hold him there, keep him trapped in the kiss that Fabian had no intention of leaving anytime soon, letting out a soft sigh.

And it’s wonderful, gentle and sweet and everything first kisses should be, made even better from the magic Kristen had tied them together with, alighting with warmth and contentment and everything else both of them were feeling, an almost dizzying, addictive sensation that was only interrupted by their friends whooping in the background.

And even that wasn’t enough to ruin it, both of them pulling apart to catch their breaths and grin at one another.

“So, uh-” Riz starts, biting his lip. “Well. My mom’s gonna be  _ pissed _ she missed the wedding.”

Fabian laughs, kissing Riz again before replying. “Well, then, we’ll have to have another, shall we?”

**Author's Note:**

> your move peach >:3c
> 
> (flipwizardmcgay.tumblr.com)


End file.
